When gods pray, who listens?
by Leikar
Summary: Sometimes, humans (and not gods) are the most dangerous beings in the world.
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

The time for the meeting that was held once every ten years had come, and as a Centre, Mind was the host.

It was rarely a formal gathering, and everyone greeted each other warmly when they arrived, with a few exceptions. Everyone felt like a huge family after all, so even the ones who had the worst relationships tried to avoid making a fuss. Even the Sun and the Moon had not tried to kill each other yet, and rather, they were coldly and blatantly ignoring each other. Mind was grateful that they could keep their hate contained on a situation like that. And that Life and Death had already arrived, so it would be a little easier to avoid casualties if things ended up getting out of hand.

Mind shook her head and went back into reality. Almost everyone had arrived already and Earth was the last one, who bowed his head at her in acknowledgement. She smiled and went to the frontal part of the table everyone had sit around to.

But she didn't start speaking like she was supposed two. Not all seats were occupied, and that was normal; but two in particular caught her eye. Cosmos and Continent should had come. That was strange, but she knew accidents happened. She felt a little worried, nevertheless. If Cosmos had died, the Sun and the Moon should have suspected something, and they should have told her as soon as possible; and the same thing went for Rock, Ice and Metal.

Mind looked at them and realized they seemed worried as well as confused by their superior's absence. She raised her hand while sending a telepathic message to everyone in the room and asking them to wait a second, and then she teleported next to the trio to talk with them about Continent.

That saved her life.

Barely a second later, more than half of the ceiling collapsed at an incredible speed, almost as if something had hit it, trying to crush the building. Everyone who had being under that side of the roof died, Mind realized; even Life and Death. The surviving attendants stood up instantly after the attack, but then an overwhelming number of legendary pokémon entered the building to finish the job. And over them, Cosmos and Continent were floating, commanding them.

They had planned it, she had realized, but Wisdom did it faster than her and threw a psychic attack towards her. She wanted to protest, to say that she was their Centre and she should fight. But he replied that she was, indeed, their Centre, and she needed to survive. And instant later she was teleported out of the building.

She watched, far, far away, hiding among the trees and transformed as a simple taillow, how the legendary pokémon destroyed the place. Those gathered for the meeting were stronger (and, she didn't doubt it the slightest, furious); but the amount of legendary pokémon was simply too big. She saw them entering the building one after the other until an eerie silence fall around the place. No more explosions, no more shouts, no more roars, no more fire nor thunder.

Nothing.

And then, very slowly, all pokémon retreated, and so did Cosmos and Continent.

Once everything was quiet and she had made sure that no legendary was left, Mind flew towards the collapsed building. She searched and searched, but she didn't find anyone; only dirty puddles, ice, rocks, scraps of metal and several burning logs and patches of flowers and other plants. She stood there, as if she was watching the dead bodies of her friends, even if there were none.

Mind started to cry.

* * *

I know that was weird, but this is a pokémon story, believe me.

Also, in this story megaevolutions DON'T exist, nor the seventh generation. As much as I'd like to include an ice ninetales, Solalgeo and Lunala's existence fuck up the plot of this story. So, no seventh generation here, ever.

That said, I hope you like this story I never thought I would write.


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

The forest was warm and peaceful, ready for the summer that would come in less than three weeks. Pidgeys could be heard chirping everywhere, happy because of the good weather. Some oddish were running around, looking for a good place to sunbathe, since the best spot had been taken by a slakoth that didn't plan to move anytime soon. An aipom jumped around, playing with the leaves and eating an apple.

Zelem woke up suddenly. He blinked, slightly confused. He didn't feel threatened, but he had the feeling that he wasn't alone. He looked around and saw he was right. There were other three people unconscious next to him. And then he realized that they were all in the middle of a forest, near a small town. However, he was fairly sure he had gone to sleep on his bed last night…

"What the hell?" The redhead girl wearing an orange sports jacket then mumbled, getting up slowly "Didn't we stop camping four days ago? I mean, it's not like I mind but…" She stopped in the middle of her sentence, realizing there was no tent and that was no camp. Then she looked at Zelem, suspicious.

"Who are you?"

The boy was about to answer when he heard groaning and a blonde boy sat up and blinking slowly.

"I'd love to dance and sing for you again, my dear audience." He suddenly said with a big grin "But I'm afraid I need my sleep before the next performance. Thanks! I love you, my fans!" He shouted, waving at the trees. And then he fell asleep again.

"Are you wrong in the head?" The redhead girl shouted at him, after a second of silence "Do you even realize where we are?" Then she stared at Zelem "Where are we?"

The brunette young man jumped, startled by the sudden question.

"I-I don't know! I just woke up!" He replied "And the name's Zelem."

"Oh, I'm Niki. Nice to meet you!" She smiled. Then she got up, walked next to the dark blonde boy and grabbed his green T-shirt, shaking him. "Come on, wake up! Tell us your name! Do you know something about this place?"

The blonde boy barely managed to wake up again and say anything comprehensible when the three of them heard a voice… inside their heads.

 _"_ _I think I can help you."_

They looked around until they spotted a human standing near them, staring at them and…

No, not human. Human-like. Slender and wearing a white, short skirt. With short green hair, a bored expression on his face and… was that a red blade stuck on his chest?

"Guys" The girl called Niki said then "I must be tripping balls because I'm seeing a gardevoir in front of us."

" _You are, indeed, seeing a gardevoir in front of you, do not worry._ " The voice of the Pokémon sounded inside their heads again, with a bored tone. Then he looked at the group, thoughtfully. " _Has she not awaken yet_?" He asked, looking at the blond girl that was still sleeping. Hearing that, Niki jumped on her and shook her even stronger that she had the other boy.

"How can you be sleeping?! There's a living and breathing Pokémon in front of us!" She shouted at her. The blonde girl woke up startled and started shouting too, confused.

The gardevoir sighted. Why was he always, even when he went to the deepest forest in the world, surrounded by idiots? Thank Arceus his trainer was sensible.

" _Enough!_ " He shouted inside their minds, making then stop and looking at him " _I only have one question and I want you to answer me as briefly as possible_." He stopped to make sure that he had their attention " _Have you never seeing a pokémon? A living Pokémon, I mean?_ "

"No." Zelem answered, cautiously. That gardevoir didn't seem to have a lot of patience "But they appear in a very famous videogame franchise."

" _Good. Come with me. Taekni and Mysel will tell you what's going on._ " He answered them, and then began to walk towards the town that could be seen among the trees, a bit far away.

Niki jumped and run, catching up with him.

"Wait! Why don't you tell us about it?" She asked him.

The gardevoir stopped and looked at her as if she had made a stupid question.

" _Because I don't want to._ " He replied.

* * *

Taekni was writing some notes about his latest investigation when Mysel entered the room with two cups of tea and two pieces of cake. He looked up, curious. She smiled softly and a little bit worried.

"I was hungry." She explained "So, I thought it could be a good excuse to eat the cake you bought yesterday. And forcing you to take a break."

The man in the lab coat pouted, leaving the notebook aside and sighting while running his hand through his hair.

"But I'm not getting results!" He protested. "Or, rather, I always get the same results! Something I do must be wrong." He insisted.

Mysel sighted. Not that again.

"Taekni, zigzagoon's behavioral patterns aren't a mystery for anyone nowadays. I really think you should change the focus on this." She calmly told him.

The man looked at his notes. They were the same data he had written everyday of that week. And the same data he had already filled three notebooks with. He sighted, defeated, sinking into his chair. Maybe Mysel was right.

When she saw it, she gave him the cup of tea and a small smile, trying to comfort him.

"Don't be so down, Taek. You just got the PhD a year ago, and you just started a new biology investigation. I know you are nervous because the expectations all academics have on you. Your last work was great. It will be fine."

However, Taekni looked at her skeptically through his glasses.

"My work on the differences and similarities on psychic Pokémon brains and human medium brains was a success because I had a lot of help and you know it." He replied.

"Then maybe it's time to hire some helpers, don't you think." Was the calmly answer he received.

Taekni looked at her, astonished. He couldn't believe what he had heard.

"You are _not_ serious."

"I'm not talking about letting someone come to this house regularly, of course." She clarified "Just looking for someone in the town who could help you from time to time."

But the man didn't look convinced at all.

"The only people who would help me are kids. And they wouldn't take this seriously enough, or would get bored easily. And it could be dangerous for them." He sighted "Sometimes I think I should have study computer science like you suggested. Everything would be easier."

Mysel smiled sadly at him while leaving her cup on the table. Then she softly pated his head.

"Taek, Taek, do not worry. You made a good decision: you are good investigator and you love biology. But you should start with something less common and less investigated than zigzagoon. You will probably get results more easily."

The professor looked at his notes one more time and sighted.

"Maybe I should focus a little more on psychic Pokémon and a little less on the zigzagoons that everyday try to steal my berries." He admitted.

The woman giggled, but then she zoned out for a few seconds. Taekni waited until she was done with the telepathic message she had just received. Then she blinked and softly shook her head.

"Mikan is here. With four humans. The five of them are finally back." She looked at the professor with excited eyes, but she still spoke in a calmed tone "Let's go greet them."

Taekni nodded and got up, not without giving a fast and sad glance at his still untouched cake. It was going to be a very long afternoon and he hadn't eaten yet.

* * *

Jeez, Mikan, you could be nicer.


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

The gardevoir guided the confused humans through the forest, but instead of entering the town, he always stayed at the outskirts and walked parallel to the beach. Zelem wondered why until he saw a two-storey house next to the other side of the forest and near the beach. A pavement path walk connected it to the town, but there were no other buildings near it. It seemed a good place for people who wanted to be on their own… or who wanted to investigate wild pokémon because they were professors. And the second thought was what run through Niki's mind, who had to contain herself as not to run towards the building in excitement.

One they arrived, the gardevoir entered the building without knocking on and they followed It inside, standing on the entrance. Or maybe it didn't need to knock on because it had already told whoever lived there that some guests had arrived. Zelem's thoughts were confirmed when a few seconds later, one door opened and two people greet them with a smile.

The man was tall and had long white hair in a messy side ponytail. He was wearing a lab coat, a white shirt and light violet pants. His eyes were dark blue and they were hidden behind a pair of glasses.

The woman was rather short, but her short pink hair made her stand out easily. She was wearing a pair of jeans and a sleeveless blue t-shirt. But Zelem was most impressed by the melancholic expression on her face, that stood out even with her soft smile. He could almost feel her sadness.

"Welcome to the world of pokémon!" The man suddenly shouted, startling everyone, even the gardevoir.

Niki shouted excited in response, surprising everyone. Even the man himself didn't seem to have expected such an answer. After that, an awkward silence fell in the room.

" _Alright, that's it. I did what I had to, so I will be leaving now._ " The pokémon declared inside everyone's minds.

"Ah, yes. Thank you, Mikan. We will talk with them." The woman with pink hair slightly bowed her head, thankful.

"Alinak won't like knowing you're so rude." The man threatened, glaring at the pokémon. The gardevoir simply shrugged and then he teleported out of the building. The woman giggled at the annoyed face her friend made.

"Well—"

"I'll take torchic!" Niki yelled "Or chimchar! Or whatever fire starter you have available! Fire is the best! Let's start this journey and become Pokémon Masters, everyone! What pokémon do you have for us? I'll take the fire type one! I said it first so it's mine!"

"What? No way!" The blonde boy replied "I'm not gonna give up a Pokémon I may like simply because you shout like a madwoman! I _will_ take cyndaquill or fennekin if they are part of the set we can choose from!"

"You'll have to fight for them!" Niki yelled back, changing into a fighting stance and throwing a punch onto his face.

But it never landed, as the short woman jumped in and grabbed her arm with a lot more strength that she seemed capable of.

"Please, calm down. Be aware that fighting is not allowed inside this building, it can be dangerous." She said calmly, not angry and with a smile that didn't falter the slightest. "Come with us. There are things we have to explain."

Both Niki and the blonde boy jumped back in surprise, and the redhead girl looked at her arm as if she couldn't believe how strong that short woman was. Zelem released a breath he didn't know he was holding, and the man in the lab coat guided them into the living room so they could talk. He didn't seem surprised, not by the woman's strength nor by the fact that two unknown teenagers almost started fighting on the hall of his house.

Once everyone had sit and calmed down, the woman brought some coffee and tea, as well as four pieces of cake, despite the man's objections that he was the owner of the house and therefore, the host; and he should be the one treating their guests. She hit him lightly on the head with the tray and the man went back to the cake he couldn't had eaten before, still mumbling in protest.

"What is this place, exactly?" Zelem asked then, fearing the redhead girl would ask again about the Pokémon they were supposed to be given.

"This is, as Taekni said, the world of pokémon." The woman said, tilting her head to one side, pointing at the man that sit next to her "You already know many things thanks to the videogames, but this is not a videogame and things do not work exactly like them. For starters, the stories those games show are true, at least partially; but they happened more than four thousand years ago. I am Mysel, by the way. I am sorry for not introducing myself sooner."

Zelem frowned when he heard that.

"But things don't seem to have changed much, judging by the few things we could see from the town and this house. I'm Lagio, by the way." The blonde boy seemed to have thought the same thing as Zelem.

"That's because some kind of catastrophe happened around the same age." Taekni intervened "All buildings were erased, advance technology disappeared and most knowledge was lost. Humans had to start again."

"What, really? What happened, exactly?" Lagio insisted, looking scared.

"There are several theories." Mysel answered "But it is not question with an absolute answer yet."

"And what about the legendary Pokémon? Could it have been their fault? I mean… legendary Pokémon exist, right?" Zelem asked.

The pink haired woman looked at him with serenity, but her eyes were hard and a bit cold.

"Yes. Yes, they do exist. It is another of one the theories, since they are incredibly powerful."

"Hey, wasn't mewtwo a Pokémon created only for battling other Pokémon, supposedly on that age?" Niki said then "Maybe he had something to do with that…"

This time it was Taekni the one that seemed astonished.

"You know the myth of mewtwo?! Was it shown in the games?"

"Erm, yes. The first generation, in fact. Why?" Niki asked, curious by their reaction.

Taekni and Mysel looked at each other, and the man nodded, as if giving her permission to explain. She looked as if she was thinking what to say.

"There is a legend about humans creating a Pokémon thousands of years ago but there aren't proofs of that actually happening." She explained "The unknown catastrophe happened soon after mewtwo was supposedly created, and there aren't any reports left on that. Only a few old legends that contradict each other. The fact that one of your games tell that story is, well, unexpected."

"The scientific community can't agree on whether he was created or not." Taekni added. "And even if he did exist, he is a little bit dead by now, so there won't probably ever be a final statement on it."

"Then, our videogames confirmed his existence?" Lagio asked, curious.

"I wouldn't go that far." Mysel cautiously added "They slightly tip the scales in favor of his creation, but they are not a lot more reliable than the legends we know. I guess it will be a mystery." She smiled at them.

However, Zelem had a suspicious look on his face.

"Fine, but do you know so much about videogames from a different world?" He asked them.

But before the adults could answer, the strong sound of beating wings and a monster soft roar could be heard around the house. The teenagers flinched, but their hosts simply smiled.

"That is our answer." Mysel told them.

They heard how whatever had been flying around the house landed noisily next to it. Taekni and Mysel got up and invited the others to follow them and welcome their new visitant.

* * *

Lots of information! Some of it is important. Some... not so much.


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

The flygon was looking at then in distrust. His teeth were terrifyingly big, his front legs almost as big as his back ones, and his wings weren't diamond shaped, but instead the pattern was formed thanks to the coloration. All in all, it was more dragon-like than the image the confused teenagers had in mind, but still easily identifiable by the information the games had given to them. The Pokémon gave a threating growled, not friendly at all, and received a warning as some soft pats on his head from the person that was still on his saddle.

That person was covered in grey pants and a dark blue zipper sweater that was open, revealing a light blue T-shirt. He jumped down from his Pokémon and proceed to take the saddle off him. Only once the flygon was free from it and rolling around the beach sand (while carefully avoiding the waves) he detected the unusual amount of people waiting for him next to the entrance. One of them in particular.

He took of the black helmet, revealing the face of someone who was almost on his twenties, pale skin spotted with some freckles, with dark blue eyes and strange white hair and eyebrows.

"Tara?" he said.

The young girl with blonde long hair and a white cardigan that still hadn't talk much slowly advanced a few steps towards him, as if she couldn't believe he was there. He understood her hesitation and gave her a sad smile.

"Yes, it's me. The guy who disappeared six years ago."

She seemed like she was about to cry.

"W-we thought… you were gone… we…" she stuttered, with tears in her eyes. Then she run and hugged him, sniffing. He smiled and hugged her back. Then he looked at Mysel and Taekni.

"We knew each other back in our world. We have a lot to talk about, so I'll explain things to her, all right?

Mysel smiled at him and nodded.

"Welcome, Alinak. And of course. But remember there is a piece of cake waiting for you in the fridge." The pink haired woman winked at him, and Taekni giggled.

The newcomer smiled brightly.

"Thanks, Mysel! You're the best."

* * *

The white haired boy guided Tana through the beach until they reached a near cliff. The soothing sound of waves and the crunch of the sand accompanied them while they walked, as well as a few solitary wingull that were trying to fish their dinner. It was an incredibly relaxing view, and Tara felt all her worries about that world and going back home melt away. Somehow, everything was right.

Once they had sit on some rocks at the top of the cliff and the view of the sea extended in front of them, she spoke, tentatively.

"So…" But she stopped, suddenly not sure about what to say. She had lots of questions and didn't know where to start. She ended up asking the only thing she could think of.

"What's going on."

Her friend smiled, sadly, not looking at her. It seemed like many things were running though his mind. The question was broad and not easy to answer. The question was… well, _the_ question. Eventually, he looked at her.

"We are in the world of Pokémon." He simply said. After a small pause, he continued "A world different than ours, where Pokémon exist. In a way it's very similar to ours, and yet, very different."

She waited for him to continue, but he didn't. Then she looked at him, astonished. Than barely counted as an answer! That couldn't be all!

"But… but how are we going to go back home!" she protested, knowing that was what she wanted to know most.

Alinak's smiled disappeared.

"Well, that's going to take a while." He admitted, looking down and plating with the grass. He bit his lower lip "If there's a way in, there has to be a way out. However, we simply popped up in this place, so we have no clues on what's the way in. That makes finding an exit a difficult thing."

He made a small pause, thinking about what to say next.

"Taekni is trying to help me go back, but he is a biologist, not a physicist. And he can't ask for help because it would be chaotic if people discovered there are other worlds you can create portals to. He fears the government would try to kidnap us and try to use us as a guinea pig or something. And I don't know if he is exaggerating or not, but better safe than sorry."

He went quiet, not looking at her. A terrible thought started to form inside Tara's head. Her green eyes stared directly at him, with a serious and scared expression.

"We are not coming back, are we?" she said very quietly.

Alinak looked at her in surprised. Everything was silent for a moment. Then he looked away again, clenching his teeth. Lying was no use.

"No… I don't think we'll be able to go back." He said, quietly.

The girl looked at him, desperate, and broke down in tears. He tried to comfort her with a hug, but it didn't really help.

* * *

Tara ended up calming down. She was sad and hopeless, and Alinak hated seeing her like that, but he knew there was not much he could do at the moment. She needed time, like he had six years ago. Then she asked him about his life there, probably trying to change the topic. He understood and answered.

Alinak had also understood fast that there was no coming back, so he had tried to make himself home in that new world. He traveled through the region, catching Pokémon and earning badges. He liked battling, but he soon realized he wasn't that interested in the championship. Then he had become an honorary ranger. Honorary rangers were the lowest ranking of rangers, the lowest paid and they had to obey orders strictly from any other ranger in the area when they were helping. But they were not assigned to a single place and they could move freely whenever they wanted, and assist the local rangers only when they felt like. Basically, they were people with plenty battle experience and that had usually encountered a lot of different pokémon, so they tended to be flexible in urgent situations and were capable of help professional rangers properly rather than making things more difficult. And when the ranger communities realized that, that special rank was created.

Many people who wanted to become trainers but realized that neither the championship nor a life as a professional battler like the gym leaders' one wasn't for them turned into honorary rangers. Many honorary rangers ended up being professional rangers, and thanks to their experience they usually promoted quickly. Tara then asked what happened with the Pokémon they had caught. Alinak answered that rangers could own Pokémon if they wanted, but they usually didn't have as many as professional gym leaders and champions. And that if the games allowed you to own pokémon they wouldn't be that different from the main ones. Tara agreed.

They talked some more about Alinak's adventures. What Pokémon he had. What places had he visited. How he liked contests because they were more similar to the cartoons but he had only tried one because he was the introverted type that feared audiences, but he still tries to make beautiful combination attacks just for fun. That time he had tried to take advance of his new white hair (Taekni had said that it had changed of color because of the trauma of being trapped here, but he didn't completely believe it. He didn't have any other explanation, however) and dye it with different colors and the result had been a disaster. How much Taekni and Mysek had tried to help him to make his forced stay in that world a bit more pleasant. They had succeeded, mostly. Even though he missed many things of his world, he didn't mind not being able to go back anymore.

He felt home.

* * *

It was night when they went back to the lab. The other teens' faces told them that they hadn't taken lightly the perspective of not going back home soon, but nor Alinak nor Tara tried to tell them they weren't really going back. Niki recovered quickly, saying that becoming trainers was going to be so fun they would be home before they realized it. Taekni said that he needed to prepare several things before they could leave, and would take a few days. She didn't stop smiling.

War unleashed when they had to choose who would sleep in the coach because there weren't enough rooms for everyone. Lagio lost.

* * *

Alinak yawned, entering the quiet room where Taekni was still looking at his notes of the investigation. He had avoided making sounds when he passed through the living room, trying not to awake Lagio. The white haired boy was wearing a long pajama and a short scarf that covered his neck. And he also carried a cup of milk and a book. Taekni looked at him and bowed his head as a short greeting, before going back to his writing. Alinak sited on the small coach that was available in a corner of the room, while briefly glancing at the room full of test tubes and similar scientific things the young man didn't bother to learn the name of.

"Insomnia?" Taekni then asked.

Alinak shrugged.

"I'm nocturnal. Which means I have an excuse to be awake. You should leave that notebook until tomorrow and go to sleep."

The older man grimace, but didn't answer. He knew Alinak was right. Then they stood alert when they suddenly heard some rustling and the flygon briefly appeared through the small window in the room, only to trot away and become and indistinguishable black spot in the darkness. Taekni smiled when he saw it.

"It seems that someone else can't sleep either. That's not usual for a flygon."

"Well, he's probably the weirdest flygon in existence. I honestly don't know what the hell were you thinking when you gave him to me." Alinak's expression seemed uninterested, but his tone was slightly accusing. "You know having a dragon type without having trained in a dragon town for at least six months is illegal. And that only if you are lucky enough to still be alive when the police finds out."

"Hey, trapinchs are not technically dragon types, and anyone can have them without training in a dragon city. There was nothing to worry about!" the professor replied.

"Yes, of course." Alinak rolled his eyes after hearing that "Because giving a newbie a trapinch that is _destruction incarnated_ is always a good idea." He replied sarcastically "I'm sure Mysel didn't panic after knowing what you had done."

Taekni coughed, uncomfortable.

"W-well, I'll admit it may have not been my brightest idea, but I knew you were a responsible person and I was sure that you could control him. And that you wouldn't let him evolve until you were fully sure you could control him."

"That's where you failed." Alinak remarked "As a vibrava, he almost bit my arms off twice and flew away three times. And I tried to wait until he evolved into flygon, but this is not the games and evolutions can't be cancelled. He got so strong so fast he became a flygon sooner than I expected. The first day, my whole team had to protect me from him. And the second day… well, you know, _I_ happened."

Taekni lowered his hands in defeat.

"All right, all right, not a good idea, I'll admit it. But you can complain about the results." He smiled at the young man.

Alinak took a sip of his drink, not wanting to admit that he was right.

"I guess…" he said, reluctantly. Then he sighted "Anyway, do you have Pokémon prepared for them?"

"I have two starters and a fletching." He answered.

Alinak looked at him, surprised.

"Two starters? But I also had two. Isn't that an awful lot of them by the usual standards? And probability?" he asked, curious.

"Yes, it is." The professor confirmed, going back to his notes "But this generation already has many exceptions. Four starters it's just one more, in my opinion."

Alinak nodded, thoughtful. Then he finished his drink and started reading the book.

* * *

Sorry for taking so long to update! I moved to the city where my college is and the new apartment had no internet. And once I got internet, I was given a ton of assignments.

Anyway, I hope you liked this and that the next chapter doesn't take that long! (college, please, slow down)


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Alinak yawned and he was suddenly hit by a table napkin.

"Hide your mouth when you yawn! Be polite!" Mysel shouted, completely outraged.

The other four people at the breakfast table suddenly looked at both of them. Taekni was a little tense, but the other teenagers were confused. No one had really being paying attention to anything else than their own breakfasts. The nanab berry jam was being spread on toasts and eaten with particular enthusiasm, as well as the cut pieces of several oran and colbur berries.

Alinak closed his mouth and looked away, equally annoyed and embarrassed.

"Sorry." He muttered. Then he straightened up the neck tube he was wearing. That morning he had explained that his flygon had left him some nasty scars in the neck because one day he had been particularly upset, and he always covered his neck from that day on, as well as a pair of big bandage patches. He didn't really want to talk about that. No one had felt like asking.

Then Tara appeared through the door, looking half sleep.

"Sorry. I overslept." She said that like she was used to it. Everyone had the feeling she _was_ used to it.

"Don't worry. There's no rush." Taekni smiled.

She nodded and took the empty seat next to Zelem. There was silence for exactly one minute and forty-three seconds.

Suddenly, a medicham appeared next to Mikan, who was having his own breakfast (made mostly of fruits and some nuts) in another small table, and everyone immediately heard a yell inside their minds.

" _Hello everyone! It's me, your incredible psychic Pokémon, Rin!_ "

The self-claimed "incredible Pokémon" then started to move her hips at the rhythm of some music and then got next to the table. In a blink, she stole the piece of oran berry Lagio was about to eat. He protested.

"Rin, what have I told you about stealing and pranking." Mysel scolded softly, who seemed to have forgotten her previous rage.

The medicham got away from the table and near the gardevoir while spinning.

" _Sorry~._ " She apologized.

But before she could get too close to Mikan's food, he grabbed one of her arms and made her stop.

" _Don't even try it_." He threatened.

" _Sorry, sorry! I won't try it again! I swear!_ " she shouted inside everyone's minds, scared. The gardevoir let her go, but kept an eye on her and another on his food. Everyone at the human table giggled.

"Well" Taekni finally spoke "As I was going to say before, regarding your new Pokémon. I told you yesterday that, you don't actually need one of those we call "starters" in order to go on a journey through the region and attempt the gyms, contests and the league. But they are generally well rounded and not particularly stubborn, so they are great for people who want travel and try the gyms and contests but has never actually owned and raise a Pokémon before, or they don't know on what they want to specialize on. The thing is…" he trailed of, looking a bit uncomfortable "Well, I only have two starters, and only one more Pokémon for the four of you."

"I won't be the one without a Pokémon." Niki declared, before anyone could speak and looking quite threatening "I will win all the gyms!"

"Me neither" Lagio said right after her "I will win all the contests."

Zelem and Tara looked at each other. Neither of them knew yet if they were really interested on any of those things. They were before the previous day. But Mysel had told them how dangerous Pokémon could be. Suffering wounds during gym battles was common, and on few occasions they were fatal, despite all the security measures. Doing contests was still risky, yet less than gym battles. That hadn't made Niki or Lagio less excited, however.

Zelem then had the feeling that Tara really wanted a Pokémon, so he said that his first Pokémon could wait. He had been right, and she smiled at him, grateful.

" _They are going on a journey?_ " the medicham said, excited " _Can I accompany them? Please!_ "

"No." Alinak answered while biting a toast "Neram will."

She looked at him with a comically astonished expression.

" _What?! But I'm_ useful!" she complained.

"You are more useful here." Mysel said. "Neram will be a good companion for them."

"Who is Neram?" Zelem intervened.

"My espeon." Alinak explained "Since you can find unexpected trouble, I thought that it would be a good idea to lend you one of my Pokémon; and he is experience in both travel and battle and can communicate with you telepathically. He won't fight your battles against other trainers for you, however. That's cheating." He smiled at them.

"You have an espeon too?" Tara asked.

"Yes. You haven't seen the rest of my team yet, have you? They are taking care of your new Pokémon right now, in the part of the back yard that is next to the forest."

"And the faster you eat the sooner you'll see them." Taekni declared.

Everyone started engulfing their breakfast. No one cared about Rin's complains.

* * *

The meganium was taking a nap next to the blaziken when he suddenly felt a soft hit on his head and opened his eyes, sleepy. A small and young bulbasaur was looking at him with big eyes and a big smile, expectant. She wanted to play.

The meganium yawned, not really feeling like getting up, and then he felt that the blaziken was staring at him. She had woken up and was looking to both the meganium and the bulbasaur. Her face was practically saying "C'mon, she wants to play with you." The big plant type Pokémon gave her an apologetic smile and she rolled her eyes. Then she got up and grabbed the bulbasaur and took it a bit far away. Casval could be lazy on sunny days, but she knew better than ignoring a very young Pokémon. Luckily, the small bulbasaur didn't seem to mind playing with the fire type Pokémon.

"She just wanted to play, Cas." Alinak scolded him softly, while patting his head.

The meganium stared back at him, like saying "And I just want to sleep." And then lowered his head and went back to his nap. Alinak's sighted.

Everyone was already at the backyard and the newcomers from another world were staring at Alinak's Pokémon, with an expression that ranged between excited and impressed. There was an ampharos sparring friendly with the flygon of the day before, and an espeon watching a small froakie and a fletching play.

"Are those you Pokémon?" Zelem asked, a little impressed.

"Yes!" Alinak proudly answered. "I also have a gyarados, but she's probably swimming somewhere deep in the sea, so I don't think we'll see her today. By the way, the lazy one here is Casval (the meganium groaned) and the blaziken is Asla. The flygon is named Hakkai and the ampharos, Rajin. You already know Mikan and the gyarados is Tatsumi. Those are my Pokémon." He introduced them.

"Aren't gyarados very difficult to train?" Tara asked, thinking about the information the games gave.

"Only if you catch a wild one." The professor answered. "If you train one since they are a magikarp, they're pretty docile as long as they don't hate you. Unlike dragon types, the possession of a gyarados is not even regulated."

"The pokédex of the games is filled with half-truths at best." Alinak whispered to the younger ones of the group. They nodded, already imagining something like that.

Then the espeon seemed to notice them, and softly called the young Pokémon he was watching. He pointed to the humans with his tail and started walking towards them, followed by the fletching and the froakie. Then the blaziken gently grabbed the bulbasaur and joined the humans, despite the plant type pokémon's fuss because she wanted to play more.

" _Greetings._ " A soft and masculine voice sounded in their heads. They looked down to the espeon, who seemed to be smiling " _I am Neram and I have been informed that I will be accompanying you in your journey. Nice to meet all of you._ "

"Will those be our starters?" Niki asked, excited and not caring a lot about the espeon.

The three small Pokémon stared at them. They were slightly intimidated, and very curious about the humans that were staring back. Then, Lagio kneeled next to the bulbasaur.

"I bet you want to win all the contests!" he smiled at her.

The Pokémon didn't know what was he referring to, but that sounded fun, and she liked fun. She smiled back and started jumping around him, excited. Alinak thought that it was the first time in his life he saw a bouncing cabbage.

"Great! I'll call you Belardia. Can I call you Belardia?" he asked. The pokemon shouted in agreement.

Then Niki softly grabbed the fletching, grinning.

"I want a fire Pokémon and you'll be a fire pokémon, so you'll come with me! How about I call you Jin?" she told the small Pokémon.

The fletching looked at her, turning his head in confusion. Then he looked at all the humans present and his gaze stopped at Alinak. Then he chirped happily and flight towards him, landing on one of his shoulders and nudging towards his chin while still making happy noises, wanting to be pet. Alinak looked horribly embarrassed. The blaziken, Neram, Taekni and Mysel looked like they were going to burst out laughing at any second. Niki looked hurt that her first Pokémon had rejected her that easily. The experienced trainer finally grabbed the small fletching and gave him to Niki.

"Come on, she is your trainer, not me." He smiled, apologetic "I know you really like me, but you have to be friends with her, ok?"

The Pokémon looked at her and then at him. He chirped sadly, and then flew to her, while still staring at him. The red haired girl noticed it, but she didn't say anything about it. She didn't say anything at all. Zelem saw that she was disappointed and jealous.

Then Tara took the froakie and called him Vetry. The Pokémon looked at her, surprised, and then around, like looking for someone. Then stopped, as if he wasn't unable to find them, and looks slightly confused. Taekni stepped forward.

"Are all of you fine with this? No one wants to change their Pokémon?" he asked, giving them one more time to think about their choices.

"Ask Jin." Niki replied, still annoyed by her pokémon's behavior. The fletching turned his head, confused.

"Alinak has been here several days, and the three Pokémon know him already." Mysel explained, calmly "And Jin grow close to him. He only needs a little time to become your best friend."

Niki didn't answer, but her mood improved a little. Since no one said anything, Taekni got a bit more serious before speaking.

"Very well, now, about your journey. There is usually a resting spot around one day of distance from any city, and one from another, if they follow the established trails and roads of the region. You shouldn't have trouble finding them if you follow the map and the paths, even if they take you more than a day because you don't walk fast enough. Also, do _not_ wander around and too far from the pathways. Some of the strongest wild Pokémon are also extremely territorial, and they won't like to find you there."

He sounded extremely serious saying that, and stared right into the new trainers' eyes. Then, his gaze softened a bit "I know you want to explore, but the farther you go from the road, the more dangerous will be, and your Pokémon are still too weak to protect you properly from very powerful enemies. Trails are safe and usually guarded by rangers, and there are many Pokémon around them, so you don't need to get into the wilderness to catch something. Don't worry too much about that and don't wander around more than necessary."

The professor sounded serious enough as not to take that piece of advice lightly. That disappointed Niki, who was more than ready to get lost in the woods for a week; and worried the others. Mysel gave them a reassuring smile.

"Everything will be fine if you don't stray. Alinak travelled alone and never found trouble he couldn't get out of. And Neram will go with you to protect you, just in case. Don't worry too much, but don't be foolish and reckless either."

"Also," Alinak intervened "regarding battles. In the games was the only thing you could do but, well, this is real life. Battles are very convenient; Pokémon do some exercise, release tensions and practice with his power. One or two battles per week are around as much as most Pokémon need to stay healthy, but there are some exceptions. However, you must think about yourselves too. If you make your Pokémon walk with you, they don't need the extra exercise, and they would only have to do small trainings to make sure they can control they're power as they grow. In fact, if they walk along you, battling will probably exhaust them, specially while they're young. However, if they don't fight at all they won't have battle experience, and if you decide to take on the gyms it will be more difficult for you to win."

"So we have to find balance between what our Pokémon need and what we want to do." Lagio said.

"Exactly!" Alinak confirmed "And keep in mind that Pokémon like some friendly battles from time to time, so try to not deny them many of them if they really want one and they aren't too tired from traveling. Despite everything I said, some Pokémon like battling a lot more than others."

After that, everyone was more excited than before by the journey. Niki was sure that she wanted to take the gyms, and Lagio was sure that he wanted to take the contests; while Tara and Zelem were, for the moment, content with the journey itself. Mysel then told they that they had to make some preparations, but they could leave in a few days.

Their journey had started.


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Alinak was flying on his flygon around a forest near Redwood Town when he felt something trying to talk to his mind. He let it enter cautiously and was surprised by his espeon's mental voice. He was informed that the travelling teenagers were camping right under him, so he decided to land and greet them.

Niki was the first one to approach him, smiling and shouting excitedly while showing him her first medal and her fletchinder, who was as excited to see him as he had been the first day. The trainer also showed proudly her newly caught electrike and scraggy. Lagio scoffed at her loudness, but confidently smiled at Alinak while showing him his first ribbon, as well as his new ducklett and mawile. He told him that the bulbasaur had evolved too.

"But now she has some pink marks around her legs, see?" he held the confused Belardia up so Alinak could see them better.

The espeon rolled his eyes at that. He had been doing that to everyone for the last week.

"Strange…" Alinak said, pensively "But I don't think it's bad. Things like this happen sometimes. My blaziken also has black feathers instead of yellow ones on her feet."

" _That's what I've been telling him for_ days!" everyone suddenly heard a furious shout inside their minds. Zelem and Tara looked at the espeon apologetically while he angrily waved his tail, laying not far from the flygon.

"And what about you two?" the white haired boy asked Zelem and Tara.

"After seeing how dangerous gyms and contests can get, we've decided that travelling is just fine for us." She smiled, feeling a little ashamed while Zelem showed his catch: a sewaddle.

"Booooring!" Niki booed.

"And yet I'm sure that you've found less trainers than you expected, and that is the exact reason. It's dangerous." Alinak replied while staring at her. "It's a very sensible decision."

"But you defeated the gyms and won the championship!" Niki replied "Taekni told us."

"I did, barely. Besides, it's still dangerous and I could be dead because of an accident. There is a reason why I stopped at my first championship instead of continue battling gyms in other regions. This isn't for everyone and I had enough closed calls. Videogames are videogames, but this is real life. Just because you can grow some turnips in a pixel field doesn't mean you'll like living and working in a farm." He replied.

Then Neram softly hit one of his legs with his head and wave his double tail as a greeting. Alinak bended over and patted him softly on the head.

"Hello to you too. Have things been fine?" he asked the pokémon.

" _Yes_." Neram confirmed, letting everyone hear what he had to say " _I missed travelling a lot, to be honest. And I sparred with their Pokémon from time to time. It was a good exercise_."

"But you never fight to your fullest!" Niki complained.

"But your attacks were really pretty." Lagio intervened.

" _Of course not! I would crush you! The only Pokémon here I could battle in a fair fight is Hakkai._ " The espeon replied, apparently annoyed. Alinak figured that was a common argument and, watching the overactive girl snorting, he wasn't that surprised about it.

The dragon Pokémon, on the other hand, got up immediately after hearing the espeon and tensed his body while showing a creepy smile full of dangerously sharp teeth, ready to fight him. The smaller Pokémon rolled his eyes.

" _No, Hakkai, we're not fighting. I'm not in the mood_."

The flygon groaned, disappointed, and then proceeded to curl up and continue to ignore the humans.

"Anyway…" Tara softly said, then "What are you doing around here?"

"The ranger officer of this forest sent me." Alinak answered "She told me that this part had been strangely warm recently and wanted me to investigate. It seems that it's going to be swellow's migrate season soon and she doesn't want any unexpected trouble, so she wanted all her experienced ranger working on the migration." Then he snorted "Like _I_ 'm inexperienced."

" _You're under everyone's ranks. You know how it is_." Neram tried to comfort him. Alinak just made a grimaced.

"And I still like to see my skills appreciated, thank you very much." He retorted.

The espeon sighted with a resigned smile. If Alinak was cranky, nothing would make him feel better until he wanted to feel better, so he didn't press on the matter. Instead, he reminded everyone that they supposedly were only doing a small pause for lunch and nobody had eaten yet.

* * *

Since they finished their meal late, the group decided to camp there that night and do some training for the rest of the day. Niki and Lagio battled with their electrike and mawile while the other's watched and Neram got sure no one got badly hurt. Alinak was surprised by how good they were giving orders and thinking fast, and even more by how pretty combinations Lagio's mawile managed to make in the middle of the battle. Using Fake Tears to make a Fairy Wind glitter was as smart as impressive.

Lagio had a lot of advantage, but in the end Niki won, almost miraculously. Her rival was fast to complain, but Neram declared that if they kept fighting their Pokémon would get badly hurt, and warned them to stop. He still complained, but didn't send another Pokémon.

After the battle, Neram approached Alinak and sit next to him, who was leaning on his flygon.

" _So? What do you think_?" he asked him, in a private conversation.

"She… won." He carefully said. By how the battle had been, she shouldn't have.

" _I know. It's not the first time this happens_." Neram confessed, while staring at the arguing teenagers while Zelem tried to make peace between them, and Tara watched, not sure about what to do next.

"How many times has this happened?"

" _Only twice. But always when she needed it most. The gym battle was the second one_." The espeon said.

Alinak covered his mouth with one of his hands unconsciously, thinking.

"Mysel will want to know this." He said after thinking several minutes. "Something else?"

" _Nothing. Maybe it's still too soon_."

"You're probably right." Alinak conceded. Then he turned his head to look at the flygon.

"Have you notice something?"

The flygon stopped pretending to sleep and opened one eye. He looked at the group of trainers, who were now trying to convince Zelem and Tara to participate in a contest simulation so Lagio could practice properly. The dragon Pokémon pointed to Tara with his tail.

" _She smells of chaos._ " He thought, knowing the espeon and his trainer would hear it.

Both the human and the Pokémon looked at him, surprised.

" _And destruction_?" The espeon quickly asked.

" _No. The potential of dreams and unpredictability. A whim. Chaos. But not necessarily destruction_." That was his only answer before he closed his eyes again and proceeded to ignore them again.

"Right… I'm clueless." Alinak declared.

" _Me too_." Neram said, lowering his ears in disappointment.

But then his ears went up again in surprise when he felt Alinak grabbing him and putting him on his lap, while softly grasping his paws and playing with them.

"Don't worry about it. You said it yourself: it's too soon. Let them enjoy this journey and Niki's incredible victories." He laughed.

The espeon sighted.

" _You're right. And you know that what you're doing is humiliating_." he stared at his trainer, who let his paws got and gave him and apologetic smile.

"Sorry, sorry. I was just, you know, thinking."

" _You do that too much. And you space out._ "

Alinak blushed slightly, embarrassed, and stared at him, still thinking.

"It's just… It's so strange how much Pokémon and animals look alike. Even though it's weird that a fox would turn into a cat."

" _If the images of animals you have showed me are faithful to that world's reality, eevees don't look like a 'fox' that much._ "Tthe espeon replied " _But I can see the resemblance_."

"Right? Why would some things be so similar when these worlds have always been apart?" Alinak insisted, resisting the temptation of playing with his pokémon's paws again.

" _I believe that Arceus got inspiration from your world. You said that it is several millions older, right?_ "

"Yeah" Alinak confirmed "While this one is only around fifty thousand… Yes, it's possible. But wouldn't the gods of that world be offended?" He wondered.

The espeon looked pensively.

" _I've been thinking about that; the reason why you were born exactly in that world, and I think it's related to the fact that there are so many different religions_." The Pokémon looked insecure when he said that, but the human nodded, confirming the information. " _Well, I think that your world doesn't have any gods._ "

The white haired boy looked surprised.

"Is that possible? Life without gods?"

" _Probably not, but they could have left the planet after putting life on it and give it will to survive on its own; and then let it evolve in whatever way it would find necessary after they left. At the very least, that would keep it from being destroyed by the gods. And it would mean that no god would be bothered by an intrusion from another world_."

Alinak thought about his words.

"Yeah… It makes sense." He acknowledged.

Then they heard Lagio's complain about the temperature. Both of them then realized that it had gotten warmer than before, and Alinak remembered that he was supposed to investigate that, so he got up to, at least, pretend he was going to start searching. He hadn't thought much about his mission because he didn't think it would be urgent, but that area had gotten warmer way too fast and suddenly to be normal. And then he realized that the heat was coming out of the ground. There was a small tremor.

Sheridan suddenly got up and run towards Zelem and his sewaddle as fast as possible, the ones who were furthest from the rest, and grabbed them while getting far away in an incredibly jump aided by his wings. A few seconds later, a lava column burst out of the ground in the exact place where they had been. Everyone stepped back while the ground around the hole started melting. Some kind of hand, but seemingly made of lava, got out of the burning place; and a metallic head soon followed with two orange eyes that were staring at them, blankly.

Alinak just couldn't believe his eyes.

It was a heatran.


End file.
